The White House is proposing an uninterrupted spending bill with disaster relief

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Tuesday proposed an uninterrupted measure to fund the government as lawmakers haggle over a $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $ 3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package with democratic support.

With fiscal year 2021 in late September, the White House encouraged Congress leaders to consider a continued resolution in the short term.

Without an ongoing resolution, the federal government would shut down and cause a wave of problems for federal workers until Congress passes a funding bill.

The uninterrupted measure would include billions in funding to help recover from Hurricane Ida, as well as to help relocate Afghans who fled Kabul.

Failure to pass this breakpoint could leave the public without reliable access to a number of federal programs such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or the Bureau of Reclamation, which is currently responding to the drought.

“Today, as part of our responsibility to prudently plan for the end of the fiscal year, we are providing technical assistance to Congress in a short-term resolution,” a Biden administration official explained. “The goal is to help prevent serious disruptions to certain utilities that could happen under a CR, if last year’s credit bills are just expanded without modifications.”

Each federal agency develops its own shutdown plan in coordination with the Office of Management and Budgets. Each plan details what government activities will be halted until appropriations are restored, which requires progress and the arrest of many agency activities.

Essential services, often related to public safety, the armed forces, and others continue to operate and are reimbursed when Congress appropriates the necessary funds.

Whether to raise or suspend the debt limit is an independent issue that lawmakers are dealing with at the same time. If lawmakers are unable to raise or suspend the ceiling, seen as an unlikely outcome, the U.S. government would be needed for the first time.

As part of the bill, the White House also asked Congress to appropriate about $ 14 billion to deal with the natural disasters that occurred before Hurricane Ida. An administration official said Ida will significantly increase the need for more disaster response funding and at least by $ 10 billion.

“The Administration is committed to providing the necessary funding to help the affected states and tribes recover from the latest extreme weather events and natural disasters,” the official said. “This includes disasters in the last eighteen months, such as Hurricanes Laura and Delta, for which unmet needs remain, as well as more recent and immediate needs, such as those arising from ongoing forest fires and Hurricane Ida.”

Finally, the Biden administration asked Congress for $ 6.4 billion to help relocate, secure and humanitarian efforts of vulnerable Afghans recently evacuated from the war-weary country.

“Most of the funds go to the Department of Defense and the state to support overseas and U.S. processing sites, as well as government transportation for our allies and partners between processing sites,” he said. explain a Biden administration official.

“The application also includes support for ongoing security testing and humanitarian assistance across the state and USAID and includes specific funding for HHS and the state to provide Afghans in the U.S. with public health testing and vaccinations. , along with full resettlement resources and a path that will allow them to build successful new lives here, ”the official added.

Following President Joe Biden’s decision to completely withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan on August 31, an action that was later imitated by NATO, the Taliban carried out a series of shocking gains in the battlefield.

Although the Afghan military, which has been aided by US coalition and NATO forces, has outnumbered the Taliban, on August 15 they seized the presidential palace in Kabul.

Over the 17 days leading up to August 31, the United States, along with coalition partners, rushed to air more than 116,000 people from Afghanistan by cargo planes.

Meanwhile, governments around the world opened their borders to Afghan citizens at risk of arriving on evacuation flights.

“Today’s funding application will support U.S. government operations and plans abroad and up to 65,000 vulnerable Afghans arriving in the United States by the end of the month,” a U.S. official said. Biden administration.